The Week That Was

December 18, 2005

Constellation merger possible

News that Constellation Energy Group might combine with a Florida utility operator sent shock waves through Baltimore's business establishment, leaving investors, power customers and civic leaders to wonder what will become of the headquarters for one of the city's last Fortune 500 companies.

Teen pleads guilty in mall killing

An Essex teenager avoided a possible death sentence when he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a private school educator in the parking garage at Towson Town Center.

Former Orioles pitcher Sidney Ponson was given a five-day jail sentence by a Baltimore District Court judge who found him guilty of driving while impaired in August.

Terps win men's soccer title

The University of Maryland defeated New Mexico, 1-0, on Mark Burch's first-half deflected goal for the NCAA men's soccer championship.

Reading and analytical skills drop

More Americans are getting college degrees than they were about a decade ago, but skills in reading and analyzing data among the well-educated have dropped significantly, according to a national report on literacy. Marylanders scored higher in nearly every category than the nation as a whole.

Three teens killed in fire

Careless smoking has been established as the cause of a house fire that claimed the lives of three teenagers in Keedysville, Washington County.

Sauerbrey nomination stalled

The nomination of Maryland Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey to a top State Department post has stalled in a Senate committee and won't be dealt with until next year unless President Bush acts to bypass Congress and give her the job on a temporary basis.